The recent extensive finds of Viking age houses at the event centre site at the former Beamish and Crawford site has prompted local historian Cllr Kieran McCarthy to call for all remaining ground plans of such houses to be placed under a glass floor, and to be incorporated into the centre’s architectural plans.

    Cllr McCarthy noted: “It is clear that the archaeologist and his team present have done a super job in excavating and recording the site but more thought needs to be done to showcase the finds. This is where the city began its life on the marshy islands. We saw in the 1970s what happened in Dublin on Wood Quay whereby material was excavated but ultimately buried over; and it is still a regret by the academic community in Dublin. Very successful models of incorporating Viking Ages timbers can be seen under glass floors in the Jorvik Viking centre in York in England and across Europe on other heritage centres”.